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Scro
| size2e = Medium to large | alignment2e = Lawful evil | refs2e = | size1e = | alignment1e = | refs1e = | patron deity = Dukagsh | vision = Darkvision | activecycle = Any | diet = Omnivore | lifespan = 73–94 yrs. | location = Dukagsh | language = Scro, Elven, Common | subraces = | climate = Any | terrain = Any | height = 5' – 8' | length = | wingspan = | weight = 140–180 lbs. | skincolor = Gray, burnt orange, tan, green, black, white | haircolor = | hairstyles = | feathers = | eyecolor = Glowing green | build = | distinctions = | based = | first = Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II }} The scro were a more highly advanced and militaristic breed of orc, feared throughout the crystal spheres. They played a large role in the events of the Second Unhuman War. Description The scro were muscular, stronger orcs. They were taller than normal orcs, averaging six feet in height and even attaining heights as great as eight feet. Like normal orcs, they had porcine snouts, but scro had higher foreheads, more like a human. Likewise, scro had a straight posture, unlike their cousins. The skin color of scro varied widely, from dark oranges and tans to jet black and an occasional green or even albino white. The eyes of scro glowed a faint green in low light. Scro had tusks like normal orcs, and they usually filed them to sharper points. They sometimes decorated their teeth and their ears with small totems related to their tribes. If they killed an opponent, they would wear one of his or her teeth on a necklace called a toregkh. Scro were usually fully armored, always wearing jet black armor, usually studded leather, with the studs sharpened into spikes and painted an assortment of colors. (Some scro even coated these spiked studs with poison.) They would also wear heavier armors at times, particularly chain mail and splint mail. They took great pride in their weapons. They kept their armor well-oiled and their many weapons sharpened. Some scro also added dark blue cloaks to their outfits. Abilities The scro could see in darkness like other orcs. Beyond that, their power came primarily from their training and physical strength, not from any magical or extraordinary powers. Scro did not share their cousins' weaknesses to sunlight. In addition, some scro were reported to have a mild resistance to magic. Personality Scro loved combat. It is foundational to their disciplined society. Despite this, scro were in no way stupid barbarians like many considered their groundling cousins. On the contrary they were highly intelligent and surprisingly articulate. (Oftentimes, they began battles with eloquent insults toward their opponents, which sometimes gave them an advantage of surprise.) While intensely aggressive at their cores, they kept tight reign over their emotions, hiding it under a cool exterior. The scro believed all other races to be their enemies, yet they did not desire to conquer all groundling races; they simply desired to control all wildspace, keeping the other races on their homeworlds where they belonged. The scro hated other humanoid races, with the exception of goblinoids and orcs; they utterly despised the elves. In spite of such hatred, they would not lower themselves to the level of other races and showed great control in diplomatic settings with their enemies. They were not individualistic; they put the good of their own race over that of their own persons. Combat Unlike standard orcs, whose method of battle was often simply raw bloodthirstiness, the scro were practical and strategic in battle. They could even be counted on to follow the rules of war held to by many civilized races, such as not harming messengers. Scro were trained from an early age in all forms of combat. They were skilled at fighting in just about any environment and with any kind of weapon, including firearms. In fact, approximately a quarter of a scro fighting force were likely to be armed with arquebus and handaxe. Three-quarters of captains and bodyguards carried starwheel firearms. Scro often learned to fight with two weapons at once, and nearly every scro was also trained in unarmed combat with their fists or even their bite. If not using firearms, scro preferred hacking and slashing weapons. Society The scro originated on a planet in an unknown crystal sphere called Dukagsh, after the name of their god. On their homeworld, the scro were divided into 24 tribes and scattered among well-planned cities with populations from between 10,000 and 100,000 scro. The cities were not designed for aesthetics but for efficiency; there were no gardens, but neither was their smog or garbage. Each city had strong towers and fortresses and shipyards. Outside their homeworld, the scro preferred life in wildspace to that of any other planet. If forced to live on a world, they favored no particular climate over another. All scro fit into a rigid hierarchy. (Scro who became adventurers were often of the lowest castes.) The scro followed a set of customs and rules passed down to them from their first Almighty Leader. The focus of such rules was to perfect both mind and body. The scro had abandoned the worship of the orc pantheon and exclusively worshiped the demigod Dukagsh, the Scro Father. The tribes themselves had a hierarchy, with each tribe subservient to another. Each tribe was ruled by an Almighty Leader, and the tribes were collectively ruled over by the Ultimate High Overlord, who himself was protected by a representative, a Captain, from each of the 24 tribes. In the ranks of the military, the scro had soldiers, war priests, sergeants, and captains. The basic soldier was not a simple warrior; on the contrary, they were trained fighters who often also knew the martial arts. Their war priests were mystic theurges; that is, they could cast both divine and arcane magic. Scro spelljammers were invariably war vessels. Most were equipped with grappling apparatus, so that the scro could board their opponents vessels as quickly as possible and engage in hand-to-hand combat. Language Scro spoke a distant dialect of orcish. Anyone speaking Orcish could understand basic Scro, but Scro had nearly three times the vocabulary of standard Orcish. (Speakers of Scro had a better understanding of Orcish than most native speakers!) In addition, most spoke Elvish, the language of their most hated foes. Scro given names were longer and more complex than those of heir orc cousins. Many scro were named after heroic scro. Since most scro heroes were males, many female scro were named after heroes with the addition of a grammatical feminine suffix. For example, a daughter named after Dukagsh might be called "Dukagshia". The scro did not use surnames; instead, they used rank, unit, and clan designations. For example, a full scro name might be "Skalkash, Captain, 2 Company, Dukagshulak," where the suffix "-ulak" indicates "…the hero's clan." Ecology Like other kinds of orcs, the scro were exceptionally fertile. A scro female would produce a litter of two to five young scro at a time. Most of these infant scro would survive to adulthood, and the scro lifespan was far greater than that of their cousins; a scro would live to the age of 80 years on average, and some might live to be as old as 94 years. History The scro have their origins in the results of the First Unhuman War, which happened in the 10 or 11 century DR. At that time, the few surviving orcs of that war retreated in their spelljamming vessels to a distant planet, undetected by the elves who had all but annihilated them. The survivors were led by an orc named Dukagsh, who became the first Almighty Leader. Dukagsh had insight greater than most of the orcish leaders before him and realized that to defeat the elves would require more than one-dimensional attacks and brute force. The orcs needed discipline, training, and order. Thus, over time, Dukagsh drove his people to become a well-trained force, including not only combat skills but culture. He required that his people be educated and literate and even demanded that they learn Elvish, so that one day they could explain to their victims who their conquerors were in their own tongue. When Dukagsh came to the end of his life, he proclaimed that his people were no longer orcs but something refined and improved. He named them the scro. Dukagsh was placed in a tomb magically set to hover directly over the scro planet's north pole so that Dukagsh could watch over his people in his death. The planet was named after their Almighty Leader, and he gained enough worshipers to attain godhood over them. The scro began preparing for the Second Unhuman War in earnest, unbeknownst to most of the other spacefaring races of the multiverse. They even developed unique spelljamming craft, such as the devastating scro battlewagons, of which only six were constructed. They led other humanoid races in this War of Revenge. Their primary goal was to annihilate all elven ships and colonies, with a secondary goal of gaining military control of all spheres. The war first entered Realmspace in 1360 DR, (shortly after the Grand Army of the Tuigan invaded Faerûn.) It took over twelve battles in wildpsace for the Elven Imperial Navy, reinforced by spelljammers from Evermeet, to drive the scro out of the crystal sphere. Though technically the elves won the war, the elven fleets had been decimated by the scro forces. After the end of the war, some of the surviving scro in Realmspace were captured by the illithids of Glyth or the beholders of H'Catha. Other survivors were attacked by the human fleets from Wa and Shou Lung. Still other scro avoided capture and took to hiding in the moons of Garden, using them as temporary bases. Despite the fact that the elves continuously searched for the remaining scro in Realmspace, at least one small scro fleet still existed as late as 1368 DR. This fleet did not attack the elves but instead tried to profit through trade on Toril by selling firearms to contacts in Waterdeep and other cities. The fleet withdrew from Toril after a short time, however, and its whereabouts thereafter were unknown. Notable Scro * Kobas Vorr, general of the scro force that conquered the elven worldlet of Spiral in 1360 DR. * Hawker, Admiral of the Tarantula Fleet of which Kobas Vorr served as general. * Grimnosh, general of the Sky Shark battalion. Appendix Appearances ;Novels: * The Maelstrom's Eye * The Radiant Dragon * The Broken Sphere * The Ultimate Helm * "Gunne Runner" in Realms of Magic ;Adventures: * Goblins' Return * Heart of the Enemy Gallery The Maelstrom's Eye.jpg|Teldin Moore and the half-kender Gaye battle scro boarders on the deck of the gnomish spelljammer Perilous Halibut. References Connections